How to Have a Deep Conversation
New York City’s Bryant Park is an oasis of green surrounded by a desert of grey concrete buildings. I sat on a dark green chair underneath a dark green umbrella overlooking a square of bright green grass.
“So how important is luck?” a voice inquired next to me.
I turned my head and met the eyes of an older gentleman sitting to the right of me. He looked like your stereotypical grandfather with a blue polo shirt, tan shorts, and hair gone completely white.
“Are you talking to me?” I asked.
“Yes! I was wondering what you learned from your book,” the gentleman followed up.
I glanced at the cover of the book on my table, Competing Against Luck, before looking back at the man.
“Oh, uh, I would say that luck is still very important to a business but the book’s point is that truly successful companies minimize luck by creating things consumers actually need.”
I thought that was the end of the conversation and was about to go back to reading when the man followed up, “I want to hear your thoughts then, would you say a company such as Uber or Apple figured out what consumers needed first or did they just build something great and then figured out how to…
